Diversity in newsrooms stagnates

7/9/13 3:58 PM EDT

The Atlantic's Riva Gold looks at recent data from the American Society of News Editors showing stagnation in the rise of minorities in America's newsrooms:

At a time when non-whites make up roughly 37 percent of the U.S. population, the percentage of minorities in the newsroom has fallen to 12.37 percent from its 13.73 percent high in 2006. In last year's 2012 ASNE study, overall newsroom employment was down 2.4 percent, but the picture looked much worse - down 5.7 percent - for minorities.

This means that fewer minorities are getting the opportunity to work in news, and news organizations are losing their ability to empower , represent, --and especially in cases where language ability is crucial, even to report on minority populations in their communities.